Trolling, as known, has been developing very much in recent years involving even more people. In such a development, trolling spread also to circles which had been always considered out of such a sport. Particularly, it is more and more frequent to see pleasure crafts provided with trolling equipment and accessories and often destined for users very demanding as far as fitting out more than sport and touring is concerned.
A particularly interesting example regarding the present invention is the so-called fishing-rod holder which is used for correctly supporting the fishing-rod during fishing and is generally secured to the boat's side.
Fishing-rod holders of the known type are currently formed of a plate secured to the boat's side by screws and provided at the upper side with a cylindrical sleeve which is the real holder and supports the handle of the fishing-rod keeping it in the right fishing position. Among the fishing-rod holders, those fixed, i.e. not removable from the installation site, and those fixed or removable but provided with fishing-rod position adjustment means may be mentioned. In any case, all of the known fishing-rod holders have several problems firstly due to their cumbersome size, which is an useless hindrance and an obstacle on the surface of the boat especially when the fishing is out. Another problem still due to the impossibility of completely removing the fishing-rod holder is the easy deterioration and corrosion of the components, above all on the sea, with negative aesthetic, functional results.
Also the removable fishing-rod holders available on the market suffer from such problems. In fact, in order to connect the plate to a removable fishing-rod holder couplings usually formed of two members, the first one integral with a plate secured to the boat's side and projecting from the latter, the second one integral with the cylindrical sleeve receiving the fishing-rod, have been hitherto used. The couplings used in the already existing fishing-rod holders have either one or more operating positions in the case of swivelling fishing-rod holders. In the latter case, however, there is another sequence of problems due to the difficulty of setting the position of the fishing-rod. Actually, in order to set the position of the fishing-rod holding sleeve with respect to the fixed plate it is necessary: disassembling the coupling, reaching a different position defined, for example, by corresponding indentations or recesses formed in both coupled members, and coupling again such members by tightening them by screw means.
It is self-evident from the foregoing that the fishing-rod holders currently on the market both of the fixed and removable types having one or more fishing positions do not solve a series of problems, i.e. that of easily and quickly allowing the fishing-rod to swivel and that of riding the boat's deck or side of any useless hindrance when the equipment is not used.
Accordingly, in the field of application of the present invention there is still a demand of fishing-rod holders for trolling which can satisfy "professional" users and are at the same time aesthetically agreeable and compatible with a tourist use of the boat.
In the light of the preceding considerations the present invention seeks to get around the described drawbacks and to provide quick-locking fishing-rod holders which can be snap-adjusted in one or more planes and wholly removed from the surface of installation.